A team of scientist is not very different than a full orchestra. Each one with its highly-skilled expertise and yet responding to a group objective. And eventually making the most beautiful music. Becoming a high-performing team doesn’t happen by accident. It is a result of deliberate action and learning. It is the relationships within the orchestra that ensure collective achievement: listening to each other, adjusting our individual volume and dynamics, and the give and take that ensures an outstanding performance.

Building effective relationships at work is the key to individual and team success. It means going beyond the transactional, basic duties of our job, and paying attention to the transformational aspects, the interpersonal dynamics that bring people together.Team spirit is a genuine consideration for others. An eagerness to sacrifice personal interests for the welfare of all. We must have consideration for others if we are going to develop our own capabilities, and we must work together for the welfare of all. In group work, it is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one worries about who will get the credit.

No chain is stronger than its weakest link; no team is stronger than its weakest player. One player attempting to “grandstand” can wreck the best team ever organized. We must be “one for all and all for one” with everyone giving his very best every second of the game. The team is first, individual credit is second. Selfishness, egotism or envy only weakens a team.

One thing we’ve learned is that it’s all about the people. The people in front. The people behind. It’s people that make it work, that make it happen. It’s people that make the choices and make the changes. It’s people that do the right thing, that make things right.

The star of the team is the team. Team spirit needs to be nurture. It does help if team members know that their personal goals only have a chance of being accomplished if the team accomplishes its goals. Winning teams are characterized by unselfish team play. You cannot live a perfect day without doing something for someone without the thought of repayment. People are slowly but constantly evolving. Redefining their goals, setting new objective. With life’s many challenges we are under constant strain to revisit our purpose in our quest for meaning and understanding.

No man is an island, especially in a scientific organization. Creating a team environment in a company does not come easy. Teams are not born, they’re built. Making individuals realize that they are part of one team is the best antidote to an insular, narrow-minded work attitude. This will engender a willingness on the part of everyone to pull in one direction. Toward our fullest potential.

There’s a mystical law of nature that the three things that mankind craves most—freedom, happiness and peace of mind—cannot be attained without giving them to someone else. As the saying goes, by uniting all of the members of a team to work toward their shared goal, we can transform mountains into gold.

Creating environments where people can connect, enabling people to be their best, empowering them to make it happen is a constant challenge. Because the only constant is change.